Cardoons and Blessed Thistle, Anyone?
There’s a new wine-based amaro in my house, and you’re going to want to get some. It’s called Cardamaro.
Good news is that it is wine-based and therefore available in any grocery store or specialty store that carries wine (you don’t have to find a liquor store that carries it); bad news, it is so esoteric that it is still going to be hard to find.
(If you live in Portland, OR, you can find it at PastaWorks on Hawthorne, at the remarkably nice price of $21.)
What is Cardamaro? It is a bitter-sweet concoction of numerous proprietary herbs and botanicals from the Bosca family in Italy that dates back to the Middle Ages.
Originally medicinal in nature---thought to be useful in treating the dreaded black plague that devastated Europe, as well as other assorted and sundry maladies---Cardamaro was composed of two major ingredients, cardoons and Blessed Thistle.
Probably not too efficacious treating the plague, but it caught on for recreational use and became a favored digestivo, just the thing to salve the over-stuffed tummy in those clammy castles on a cold winter night.
Cardoons and Blessed Thistle? Not your normal everyday drink ingredient, granted---but when you stop to consider that both are within the same family as the artichoke, you begin to get the idea of the flavor profile.
Somewhat similar to the artichoke-based bitter liqueur, Cynar, but significantly less bitter and more sweet, with a milder texture due to the wine base (Cynar is spirit based), Cardamaro has an amazing profundity of aromas and flavors.
There’s the vegetal nature of the quasi-artichoke, of course; but there’s also (deep breath) cherry, cranberries, candied citrus (like in fruitcake or pannetone), dried citrus peel, peach, baked apple, apricot, cinnamon, nutmeg, a hint of clove, allspice, ginger, (another breath), patchouli incense, pine needles, mint, pepper-spice Christmas cookies, nutty Sherry, and old Madeira. Yeah, I know. Hard to believe that's all in there, but it is.
Perhaps a bit too sweet for an aperitivo; just right for a digestivo; the Cardamaro also has enormous potential as an ingredient in the hands of a crafty craft bartender.
There are two intriguing cocktails as proof, from the website of http://www.portlandcraftcocktails.com; one, the Bols Cardoon, uses Bols Genever, Cardamaro, lemon juice and Cointreau. The other, name unknown, from dynamic David Shenaut (Beaker & Flask, Central, various and sundry) is composed of cocoa-infused Encanto Pisco, Imbue Bittersweet Vermouth from Oregon, Cardamaro, dandelion bitters, and lemon zest. (So unless you have dandelion bitters on hand in your Intrepid Home Bar, come to Portland, find out where Shenaut is on a given night and have him make one of these for you.)
Most important of all, Cardamaro is one of those surprisingly seductive tipples that you’ll want to have at home. During the cold, dark and dank winters Portland enjoys, it’s good to have a bottle on hand for a little nip to ward off the chill and grumblies. And it’s low in alcohol (wine based!), so perhaps two nips? Sure; why not.
Reprinted from Examiner.com: Amaro amore: Cardoons and Blessed Thistle, please! - Portland spirits | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/spirits-in-portland/amaro-amore-cardoons-and-blessed-thistle-please
